By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The final non-conference home clash of the regular season has arrived for the Tennessee Tech soccer team as the Golden Eagles will host Belmont Thursday evening at Tech Soccer Field. Kickoff with the Bruins is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Admission to Tech Soccer Field is free of charge. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+. Click here to watch. Live stats will also be available. Click here to view.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Tech (0-5-3) gets set to seal the deal on a busy Cookeville stretch that will see the purple and gold play their third home match over the last four tilts on Thursday. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 3-2 loss to South Alabama on Sunday that saw the Jaguars score three unanswered goals after TTU raced out to an early 2-0 edge.
Lucia Cuadra was responsible for both Golden Eagle goals behind rapid scores in the 11th and 12th minutes for her first two net-finders in her Tech tenure. The Barcelona, Spain native's stellar showing led her to the OVC Offensive Player of the Week honor, the second such accolade for Tech this season. Neve Renwick hoisted the first Offensive Player of the Week award of the season, capturing the distinction on Aug. 20.
Renwick leads the conference with four goals, nine points, 27 shots and 14 shots on-goal. Overall, Tech sits atop the OVC leaderboard with 12 scores. Along with Renwick's four goals and Cuadra's two, Katie Toney and Anna Baker have each split the pipes twice, while Cheyenne McCloud and Allison Lee have each found the back of the net once.
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Maggie Conrad leads the league with 55 saves.
A look at Belmont
The Bruins (2-5-0) snapped a four-match losing streak their last time out behind a 1-0 nod at North Alabama for the club's second win of the season on Sunday. Ava Labocki was responsible for the affair's lone goal with a winner in the 31st minute for the freshman's first career score. The go-ahead goal came off of a corner that featured a Kennedy Bernsen assist.
Belmont has tallied five goals in seven matches. Kennedy Wise and Kaitlyn Elliot join Labocki as Bruins with one goal this year, while Reagan Ross is the squad leader with a pair of scores.
Sydney Jones and Amanda Waggoner have shared goalkeeping responsibilities throughout the year, with Jones serving as the primary keeper behind six matches and 495 minutes in between the pipes. The graduate student out of Denver, Colo. has picked up 25 saves to go along with 10 goals allowed for a 1.82 goals against average and a .714 save percentage. Jones secured six stops en route to a clean sheet in Sunday's win at North Alabama.
Belmont's other victory was a 2-1 triumph at Middle Tennessee on Aug. 18. The club has dropped contests to Lindenwood, Vanderbilt, Lipscomb, Marshall and Coastal Carolina.
Inside the series
Thursday's battle with the Bruins will mark Tech's 24th meeting with Belmont in the all-time series, but first matchup since 2011 where the contest will serve as a non-conference clash. The two schools last locked up on Oct. 12, 2021 in Cookeville when Belmont was still a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles won the match 2-1.
Photo by Jim Dillon
